Greetings from the President

　Our mission, shared by all at Hiraki & Associates, is to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our clients by providing them with high-quality services, thereby contributing to society at large.

　We have been blessed with excellent clients since our firm’s foundation in 1984 and progressed together over the years.

　In October 2009, we opened our Kansai-area office in Osaka. For the long-term stability of our business and to strengthen our organization, we established Patent Professional Corporation Hiraki & Associates on April 1, 2017, which was renamed as Patent Attorney Corporation Hiraki & Associates on October 1, 2022. We are deeply grateful for the confidence that our clients have shown in the sincere, responsible attitude of our specialists and our strategic organization and global network, which is something that only a comprehensive international patent law firm can offer.

　Our team at Hiraki & Associates will continue to do our utmost to help realize the full potential of your ideas.

Patent Attorney Corporation Hiraki & Associates

President / Representative Patent Attorney　Yasuo Hiraki

　Our firm celebrated its 40th anniversary on October 2, 2024. We would like to thank each and every one of our clients for their patronage.

　Looking back, when I started practicing as a patent attorney, my first office was in a rundown (now-demolished) two-story wooden building near Shiba Post Office in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The office was on the second floor and had an area of only a few square meters. The stairs and floor creaked when you walked on them. The building was in such poor condition that escape would have been difficult in the event of a fire. There, I worked hard from early morning until late at night, with no weekends off, and every night, I trudged home along the dimly lit streets. Because of this situation, when we first opened, even our only part-time worker soon left. It was difficult to reach a point where we could operate smoothly.

　However, despite this state of affairs, we still received a steady stream of orders from our clients. Fortunately, my involvement with plant patents and other bio-patents during my time at the Japan Patent Office was well known both in Japan and overseas. Moreover, this was also the time of the first biotechnology boom. Thereafter, we started receiving requests for work involving biotechnology from clients in the mechanical engineering and electrical fields, outside the biotechnology industry. In addition, we now receive international requests for both domestic and foreign applications.

　Before I started working as a patent attorney, everyone—my family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances—warned me that I wasn’t really suited to the job. Granted, I was now a patent attorney, but even so, it was a client-facing role—not something for an earnest person like me, not a smooth speaker and unable to flatter others. I am proud of the fact that we have been able to develop our business not only because our clients have supported us but also because we have been single-mindedly devoted and faithful to them.

　All of us at the firm will continue to work with the utmost commitment in all that we do. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Patent Attorney Corporation Hiraki & Associates

Chairman　Yusuke Hiraki